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FINAL WEEK on Healy- no longer an Iceworm

Author:
MacKenzie Smith
Host Vessel:
USCG Healy

Science has come to an end. It's cold outside and it’s hard not to get choked up over the departure of the scientist. But wait! What's this? SUMO NIGHT!?

Being on a ship for so long, the coast guard put together some morale funds to support events such as Ice-cream socials, trivia night and of course sumo night. It was great fun watching the gang get together in large sumo suits and pummel each other (in a safe fun-loving way). I didn’t partake in the fighting because of course I ripped my THIRD PAIR OF PANTS; lessons learned: always bring a sewing kit on board and invest in a hardy pair of Carhartts. I really enjoyed watching the scientist and the coast guards battle it out in sumo style, it was pretty hilarious and a perfect end to a long day.

Photo creds: (Flying Tackle by Victoria Uva)

Everyone seemed to be in the fun-loving spirit. Even Kristin and Dr. Cross got in on the fun... however, in a different way and at my expense.

Let me tell you what went down: Daniel and I were watching the sumo fight in the flight hanger when the chief scientist and Dr. Cross walked in. Dr. Cross came over to me in a very calm matter and said "operations have been canceled for the remainder of the night". I dint think much of it at first because Daniel and I would have been paged if there was an emergency and Dr. Pickart (chief scientist) was straight chillin in the back laughing at all his comrades in sumo suits. I continued to watch the sumo fight between a scientist and a coast guard member when my mentor walks up behind me and says "Operations has been canceled because we lost the CTD". WHAT!? I’m sure I turned as white as this page. Later, as I was on my way to the staging bay, they reassured me it was all a joke but I still had to check on it. Luckily it was still in the staging bay, not a scratch on her. Operations was really canceled but for moral reasons (very long day of mooring recovery). I’m glad they got a laugh out of it... but it was still so cruel :'(.

The last week wasn’t all fun and games. Actually, it was still a lot of fun but the work kind. The Geo Mapp App pooped out as we were trying to give JAMESTEC a better view of the IsoBathy where a mooring was located (they wanted to see if they could move the mooring to a better location). Geo Map App was lying to us about the distance between the two point of interest (we knew it was lying because good ol’ trusty OpenCPN was telling us it was a much closer distance). I played around with Geo Map App a bit to try and identify where the issue was coming from. Turns out the scaling was way off and the Lat and Long was way weird. I relayed this to a STARC member who notified the company that provided the software. Long story short, a new Geo Map App software is being sent out with the 1902 MarTech's.

I wrapped up all of my projects (SSW trans protocol, CTD Trans&Fluor protocol, Cold CTD protocol, and DGH-RM Young configuration document), and had a last night of trivia with the scientist.

(August 23rd) Science wrapped up everything and left Healy by noon. After science left we got a weird power outage. Crazy enough, the mysterious frequency on the Hydrophone caught this power outage before it happened. We notified engineering and documented (screen shots and videos) the strange occurrence. Engineering now thinks that the hydrophone is connected to a dirty power source... the same dirty power source that is causing the power outage. We may not get to the bottom of the mysterious frequency on this cruise but we are starting to close in on the source.

The next day we got Nome liberty! Ami, Kristin and I got to adventure around Nome a bit where we acquired some fresh fruit and paid a visit to the Iditarod finish line. Back at the Healy there are talks about the line crossing ceremony! I wasn’t allowed to hear any of the preparations as its TOP SECRET. Some of the polar bears (people who have already gone through the ceremony) like to throw around the quote; "the first rule of fight club is you can’t talk about fight club". Anyone who has seen the movie or read the book Fight Club can get an idea of what this was like as a measly iceworm.

ICE WORM NO MORE

(August 25) I can’t talk about the ceremony (because of the whole fight club thing) but I can say it was a lot of fun and I’m NO LONGER AN ICEWORM. I am now an Honorable Polar Bear! I have crossed the Arctic Circle and the Date Line so I’m walking out of this internship with two very cool certifications.

(August 26) A page went out saying "WHALE CARCUS PORT BEAM" I wanted to add this in here because it was pretty gnarly and deserves some recognition. Im going to share the picture at the very end so heads up if you're squeamish.

To conclude. This internship was an amazing opportunity and I will always be grateful for the knowledge gained and the memories made. I hope to sail on the Healy again soon!

**Que Donnie Warwick "That's What Friends Are For"**

On the Left: Me chatting with the CTD about the good ol' times. On the Right: Me giving the CTD a farewell hug. Photo Creds: (Kristin Beem)

The view from Healy right around the corner from Dutch Harbor. The tennis ball has been there THE WHOLE CRUISE

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers DRL/ITEST 1312333 and DUE/ATE 1104310. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.